


Old Eyes in a Young Face

by HisWarrior



Series: A Little Light Goes A Long Way [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, Return to Never Land (2002)
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Narnia, Neverland (Peter Pan), No Romance, No pairings - Freeform, Peter Pan References, Storytelling, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisWarrior/pseuds/HisWarrior
Summary: Jane knows that Peter Pan would never allow a Pevensie sibling to travel to Neverland. Not with their old eyes and heavy gazes. Especially the eldest Pevensie boy. No. Peter Pan would hate Peter Pevensie.
Series: A Little Light Goes A Long Way [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763089
Comments: 11
Kudos: 97





	Old Eyes in a Young Face

Jane was not quite sure what to make of her new housemates.

The minute she stepped into Professor Digory Kirk’s mansion of a home; the occupants of the house confused her.

The professor was fine, oddly enough. And she supposed maybe even Lucy was alright at certain times.

But even Lucy sometimes got this look in her eyes. This undertone of knowledge that Jane was not sure a girl Lucy’s age should have.

Peter Pan would have looked down on these "eyes of a grown-up". And he would never have taken Lucy to Neverland with such a gaze.

In fact, he probably would not have taken any of the Pevensie children to Neverland.

Especially Peter. The golden-haired eldest Pevensie acted with the authority and direction of a grown adult much like she used to.

Actually no. He was worse. He was much worse.

Jane supposed she should not judge too harshly. After all, like herself, he was the eldest sibling. And the eldest of a larger family than she herself: as she only having six-year-old Danny to watch over. And he was the oldest of all the children in the professor's mansion. She guessed that he was perhaps 14 if not a little older.

But the moment she and Danny stepped foot into Professor Kirk's house, there was no doubt of the weight and age in all 4 siblings’ eyes. An age that not even her mother looked like.

It's not that she disliked the Pevensies'. She was just unsure of what to make of them.

But Danny liked the Pevensie children immensely and took every opportunity to spend time with them. Often dragging his big sister along with him. Jane did not mind. Neither did the Pevensies.

Edmund and Lucy would walk with the two of them through the wood around the mansion, pointing out rabbit tracks or a badger's den. They even got lucky enough to see a deer and her fawn one bright morning. There had been a wistful, sad look in Edmund's eyes when the animals stepped back into the canopy of trees, bearing the human children no mind.

Whenever they were allowed, Danny liked “helping” Susan make tasty treats in the kitchen. Those were rarer moments, certainly. But even Jane could openly admit that Susan was a natural at making even the most mundane pastry into a dessert fit for a king. And if Danny was a little bit messier and a little less helpful than a more skilled assistant, Susan never turned down the boys enthusiastic offer of help.

Danny also liked to watch Edmund and Peter fight. Not fist fight, or verbal fight. The two boys would take hard wooden bats and go at it against one another as if they were sword fighting.

Jane had only seen a moment's worth of a sword fight before. And watching the two brothers, she was not exactly sure if the one she witnessed even counted. Peter Pan had only ever fought with his dagger. And Capt Hook fought one handed with a long, thin blade. Peter had the advantage of flight, and Hook had his…, well, his hook.

But this was something entirely different. Peter and Edmund fought double handed, and it seemed to her as if all the force of their bodies went into every swing. There were moments where her gaze went from their bats to their feet, watching the way the pair seemed to whirl and maneuver around each other as if it were a complicated dance.

Offhandedly as they were watching, she asked Lucy about it. And the younger girl launched into an explanation about swords, sword weights, techniques, and balance that Jane's head was practically spinning by the end of it.

It did not occur to Jane to ask Lucy how or why she knew these things.

However, what she found most odd was that none of these Pevensies', with their old eyes and odd skills and odd knowledge, did not comment on what might have been considered her own oddity.

Stories of Peter Pan were a staple for her and Danny. Something she had promised her mother she would do before being sent away. Because he needed the stories. And she needed them too.

And she told them to her little brother every moment he needed them. When he was sad, she scooped him up into her lap and launched into a tale of how Peter Pan cheered the Lost Boys up when they lost a fight with the Indians by taking them on a treasure hunt. When he was disappointed, she would take him on a walk in the sunshine and tell him about mermaid lagoon and the hours Peter Pan spent there playing his pipes and teasing the mermaids. And when Danny would wake up in the middle of the night, bad dreams swirling through his head, Jane would rock him by the window and whisper to him about faith, trust, and pixie dust.

And if a Pevensie just so happened to be there (which, they were there, quite often), the Pevensie would listen to. They would not scoff. They would not mock. They would not call her childish and tell her to stop telling such silly stories. No. They would sit quietly, listen to the story, and smile at the end.

Even serious faced, old eyed Peter.

One night, Jane woke up to a light that was not morning.

Disoriented and half blind from sleep, it took Jane several moments before she realized that Danny had left the door to the hallway open and left the light on again.

Grumbling sleepily, she rose from her bed and lumbered to the door, softly whispering “Danny”.

But Danny did not answer back.

Jane moaned internally at having to hunt down her little brother in the middle of the night when he should be in bed asleep.

She called his name softly down the hallway, not wanting to disturb any more sleeping occupants within the house when she heard low voices and a soft whimper.

Jane froze.

The door to the Pevensie boys’ room was slightly ajar, and she heard the tell-tale soft sobs of her brother coming from within. A little alarmed and slightly perturbed, Jane scurried to the door and softly pushed it open.

Peter was sitting in a deep cushioned chair, holding little Danny in his arms as the tiny boy let his tears drip down his face. A quick glance around showed Edmund fast asleep in bed, though the cover sheets next to him were a little extra rumpled.

Peter looked up as Jane approached and gave a little “sorry” grin.

“I found him crying in the hallway,” he explained in a whisper. “He was trying to be a brave boy and didn’t want to wake you.”

Jane’s heart warmed over.

“I tried to explain that waking you up didn’t mean he wasn’t brave,” Peter continued. “And unfortunately, I don’t have any stories of his favorite hero to convince him otherwise.”

Danny bolted upright; his tears forgotten at the audacity of such a statement. He fixed his gaze squarely on the elder boy, and Jane nearly laughed at the look on Peter’s face.

“You don’t know any stories of Peter Pan!” Danny exclaimed. Jane and Peter quickly shushed him, glancing back toward the still sleeping Edmund.

“Sorry,” Danny whispered, looking at least slightly bashful. “But how can you not know stories about Peter Pan?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders, but his eyes had brightened.

“The best stories that I know are about Aslan,” Peter explained.

And Jane saw it. A split moment in time, no longer than a second, but she saw it. Peter’s smile had increased tenfold, and the weight on his shoulders seemed to disappear.

“Who is Aslan?” Danny asked.

 _“Yes”_ , Jane thought. _“Who is Aslan?”_ For though she only just heard the name, she could easily see the effect this person had upon Peter Pevensie.

“Aslan,” Peter said softly. Reverently.

“Aslan is the reason Edmund can sleep peacefully. He is the reason why Lucy can laugh joyfully. He is the reason Susan can care deeply. And Aslan is the reason that I can watch over them and not fear what may come next. He gives me strength to not be afraid.”

The weight of which he said the words captured Danny’s complete attention. Jane would not deny it caught hers as well.

“What is his story?” Danny whispered, eyes wide.

Peter leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply.

“He has many stories. Let me start with the most important one. Let me tell you about Aslan, the White Witch, and the Stone Table.”

**Author's Note:**

> I always wondered what would happen if Jane met the Pevensies after her adventures with Peter Pan. I hope you enjoyed the story.


End file.
